Voice of the People, Jun. 10

June 10, 2010

Energy needs

We agree with the Tribune's "Who's to blame?" (Editorial, June 4). The American people — especially the families and communities immediately affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — deserve to know the cause and how the industry is responding. We are committed to understanding and correcting the causes of the April 20 incident.

As part of that commitment, the oil and natural gas industry has formed two task forces, which have already provided reports to the Interior Department and continue to study all relevant issues, and we stand ready to collaborate with the independent presidential commission in its investigation.

No one wants a repeat of this tragic incident, but we must avoid prematurely discounting offshore drilling.

Our energy and economic needs will not be met without it.

In the next 25 years, energy demand is expected grow by 14 percent in the United States alone.

Even though the use of alternative energy will no doubt increase, oil and natural gas — including oil and gas from offshore areas — will continue to be part of the energy mix that will help our nation's economy recover.

And we should not discount the millions of jobs supported by the industry.

No human endeavor is without risk, but we are working diligently to lessen those risks.

The American people deserve answers, but they also deserve affordable energy and a secure economy.

Barack Obama came into office trumpeting a new "transparency" that would be a trademark of his presidency.

What a joke!

His first year-and-a-half in office has been a hide-and-seek game with the press.

He is all over the place when he can read from a monitor and can control any questions.

But open forums with the press have been few and far between.

His first in a year was held recently and when a tough question came up about his administration offering Joe Sestak a job if he would get out of the senatorial primary in Pennsylvania, his response was that a statement would come out shortly on that issue.

He dodged the question to give him time to concoct the least-damaging response and get everyone involved "on board."

Obama's administration is about as transparent as the murky waters in the Gulf of Mexico during the current oil gusher that he has avoided.

— Gary Ziolkowski, Crown Point, Ind.

Accountable for damages

Corporations need to be held financially accountable for the damages they cause when they take inappropriate risks to acquire greater and greater profits.

The long-term health of our beautiful country and all our people must come before a company's quarterly earnings report to stockholders.

— Deborah Hawkins, Chicago

A wildlife disaster

A couple of weeks ago, I took pictures of tree and barn swallows at the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.

The refuge is home to millions of migrating birds throughout the year.

The swallows migrated from South and Central America.

When we see the pictures of the pelicans washed ashore because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, maybe our hearts sink for a minute and we go on about our day.

We put gas in our cars, shop, work, mow lawns, vacation.

What does that have to do with me, we ask.

We have allowed the gas companies the power they have because of our own demand for oil — cheap oil.

I have learned that millions of birds migrate from South America over the Gulf of Mexico, and that if their feathers get coated with oil, they won't make the journey. Migrating peregrine falcons will end up with contaminated prey.

Blue-fin tuna also breed in the Gulf and this tuna migrates up the Atlantic.

The Gulf is the heartbeat of wildlife, now stained with an immense toxic soup of oil and chemical dispersant. Some people think when the leak is plugged, whenever that happens, that we'll get back to normal. That is more surreal than the devastation itself.

We all need to take responsibility for what has happened. How will the swallows return and why does that matter at all?

— Maria Carrasco, Chicago

Our energy future

I want to thank Tribune writer Greg Burns for "Coal makes a stealth return; An 'easy target,' but not going away soon" (News, May 20). It's important for people to know that we have a lot of coal in this country (and in Illinois) and that we will most likely rely on it for our electricity needs for decades.

Most people might cringe at this thought, but should they?

One misconception about coal and all kinds of energy is people assume that energy generation can't improve. They assume coal will always be "dirty," solar will always be expensive and so on.

But in Washington County, Illinois, Prairie State is building a new coal-burning power plant that will produce 20 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than existing plants because of improved technology.